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WordCamp Europe 2016, Here I Come! #WCEU

https://2016.europe.wordcamp.org/
https://2016.europe.wordcamp.org/

My schedule for June marks the dates 23rd to 26th as WordCamp Europe 2016. This year I have the privilege of attending one of the biggest WordPress conferences across the globe taking place in Vienna, Austria. The last biggest WordCamp I attended was WordCamp US, 2015 in Philadelphia. However, this time it’s much greater and widely encompassing than the last. WordPress professionals from all over the world will be attending and I must say, I am very excited.

This time I will be participating not just as an attendee but a volunteer. This is the first time I am volunteering for an international WordCamp conference. I expect the event to be grand and hope to learn many new things in the process of volunteering for event. As huge as it is, over a thousand attendees are expected, so I hope to see many new faces and add a good number of people to my contacts. I am very excited to meet Ulrich Pogson, who is a member of our theme reviewing committee. Also this time, both the founders of WordPress – Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little will be present and I am eager to meet the both of them.

It had always been my dream to be able to take other members of the WordPress Community in Nepal to an international WordCamp. I have realized this dream this year, as Mr. Surendra Shrestha and my business partner, Mr. Yam Bahadur Chhetri, will be accompanying me on the trip. This is also Yam’s first international trip and his excitement knows no bounds.

Basically, my biggest emphasis will be on getting to know the nitty-gritties of how WordCamp Europe is organizing such a big event. It should help us to know what we can improve in WordCamp Nepal as I am a leading organizer of WordCamp Nepal, 2016. I will also be busy in business promotions for Theme Palace and Catch Themes. I want to invite people from other countries over to WordCamp Nepal. So, I will be working towards building my contacts in the networking events. I will, of course, be introducing my country and the work that we do. In addition to business promotions for Catch Themes and Theme Palace, I will also try to boost our new projects-DevotePress and NepalBuzz and try to gain them more platform.

The visit will not be entirely professional, though. Apart from the first few days of conference and work, we plan to travel around a little. Europe is a very exciting place and this trip being Yam’s first international visit, we plan on visiting three countries; disregarding the short 8-day time period. It is a challenge as the travel will be hectic but the three beautiful cities we plan to visit—Vienna, Venice and Paris—should make up for the effort. We will have daily flights and overnight trains. I like to compare it to The Amazing Race—travelling as a backpacker for the first time, completely cramped schedule from the 26th-29th June and new city adventures between the hotel check-ins.

From Nepal, a total of six people had applied for visas and three of us were fortunate enough to be approved by the German Embassy of Kathmandu. However, the visa procedure was not up to par as I would have expected it to be. We had to wait for more hours than expected. There was no water dispenser in sight and only one restroom which had a growing line to it as the time passed. The four hours of waiting was a bit much and many applicants clearly uncomfortable. Germany, being among the leading countries in the world, with all its technical development and success, one would surely expect its Embassy in any country to be top notch. I and all other visitors and travelers would really appreciate it if they could consider this and improve the standards of facilities made available.

I anticipate the experience to be an awesome one. WordCamp Europe is a colossal scale event and very competitive as in trying to break participant records every time. I seek to represent Nepal and this time with two people accompanying me, I hope to be seen more than the previous WordCamps where I would be the only Nepali. I will take with me t-shirts and stickers from Catch Themes and Nepuu souvenirs to gift the other attendees and also to make our WordPress community further visible in the global WordPress community. I hope to learn a great many number of new things and bring back much that is important for the advancement of the WordPress community in Nepal.

I will be back with more stories to tell and experiences to share after I return from WordCamp Europe 2016.

Vienna, here I come!

These are the stickers and t-shirts I will be taking as gifts:

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Author: sakinshrestha

Hello. My name is Sakin Shrestha, and I am a technology entrepreneur from Nepal. I am passionate about helping this sector grow, for many reasons. The technology sector creates jobs for many young Nepalis who would otherwise migrate to foreign countries. It lets Nepali professionals develop skills for a fast-changing global workplace, and compete at a high level with anyone, anywhere in the world. If it grows, it will provide a viable career option for many young Nepalis, and help us reap the benefits of a global economy.